Colonels win to take baseball series from Houston Baptist

From staff reports

Published: Monday, February 18, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 18, 2013 at 10:41 a.m.

HOUSTON — The Nicholls State University baseball team scored in all but four innings, exploding for seven runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Houston Baptist Huskies 15-5 to claim the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Husky Field.

Five different Nicholls players finished with multiple hits. Ray Eureste had a career day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with six RBI and two runs scored, getting the first double and triple of his career with seven total bases. Eight different Colonels had a hit, as Philip Lyons (three), Matt Richard (two), Cody Dufrene (two) and Zachary LeBeouf (two) each had multiple hits.

Starting pitcher Kory Delange went five solid innings to earn the victory, allowing three runs, one earned and four strikeouts on two hits. Justin Sinibaldi, Marc Picciola, Zach Thiac and Jordan McCoy each got one inning of work, combining to allow just two runs on five hits with three strikeouts.

Houston Baptist's Brandon Hammerly pitched five innings giving up five runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts before exiting the game with his team trailing 5-3. It never got any better for the home side as his replacement in Curtis Jones gave up three runs in the sixth inning, allowing five of the seven total runs for the Colonels in the ninth before being replaced by Matthew McCullough, who gave up two more before getting the final two outs.

After scoring a run in each of the first three innings, the Huskies were held scoreless for the middle third of the game, allowing the Colonels to go on top for good after scoring two runs in the fifth inning.

Eureste struck in multiple ways with a two-run double to score Dufrene and Tyler Duplantis to put Nicholls up 2-1 in the second inning. A single in the fourth drove in Dufrene for the second time to tie the game at 3, and he was driven in on Richard's in the fifth. He saved his biggest hit for last as the Houston native blasted a bases-clearing triple to right-center and scored for the final time on a Richard sacrifice fly.

Just as they did on Saturday, Nicholls took advantage of its opportunities when they had runners on, getting four stolen bases on six attempts, leaving just seven runners on base to Houston Baptist's 10. Nicholls also had six extra base hits, including LeBeouf's solo homer in the top of the fifth.

NICHOLLS SOFTBALL DROPS PAIR

At Baton Rouge, the Nicholls State University softball team closed out play in the Purple & Gold Challenge with loses to Virginia (4-3 in extra innings) and No. 10 LSU (1-0) on Sunday.

The Colonels (4-5) have lost three straight after winning their opener in the tournament against North Dakota State on Saturday.

Nicholls recorded four hits against Tiger starter Meghan Patterson (3-1), with Haley Parkerson going 2-for-3. Danielle Phillips had an infield single in the first, and Leah Andrus led off the fourth with a double to but was left stranded. Parkerson's last hit came with two outs in the seventh before Patterson completed the shutout.

In the circle, Ashton Bennett gave up just five hits in seven innings of work, surrendering an RBI single to Tammy Wray in the first inning. Bennett (3-2), a native of Baton Rouge, finished with one strikeout and a walk.

Against Virginia (3-4), the Colonels took advantage of two errors in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. Brittany Marcet brought home the first run on a sacrifice fly before Bennett hit a two-run homer, her first of the season.

The Cavaliers evened the score at 3 in the second after tagging Katie Moulder (0-2) with four hits. But Moulder would settle in, keeping Virginia hitless over the next four innings.

Despite giving up three singles, Virginia starter Melanie Mitchell (3-1) kept Nicholls off the board as well as she finished the day with nine strikeouts.

In the seventh, the Colonels threatened to take the lead, getting a pair of one-singles by Parkerson and Ashley Bertot. However, Mitchell retired the next two batters to keep the game tied. Moulder matched her counterpart in the bottom half, leaving the bases loaded to send the game into extras.

In the bottom of the eighth, a Nicholls error put the winning run on before Shannon McGinley hit a walkoff double, driving in her third run of the game.

Moulder gave up two earned runs on six hits, finishing with two strikeouts and four walks.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.